


The Warrior and the Nug

by Momus



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Awkward, F/M, Romance, Transformation, commission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 08:26:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15215081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Momus/pseuds/Momus
Summary: Frustrated with Hawke's decision to withhold the Arulin'holm, Merrill tries to fix the Eluvian mirror with her own power, only to have it go terribly wrong.  With limited options, she turns to the only other elf she can who isn't miles away in the mountains -- Fenris.





	The Warrior and the Nug

**Author's Note:**

> This was a commission piece that specified some cute, fluffy new-found romance between Merrill and Fenris. I miss writing Dragon Age fics so much!!

Magic has always been a thing of mystery to Merrill, even with all her advanced training and knowledge.  As a child, instead of playing with others she would reserve herself to her home, studying spells and practicing on plants or objects.  It was more thrilling than any friendship someone could offer.  However, there were times her practice ended in disappointment, and tonight was of no exception.

 

Earlier in the day, she and Hawke had discovered an heirloom of her elven heritage -- the Arulin'holm, a key to her research into the Eluvian mirror.  But the Keeper was hesitant to give the artifact to Merrill, choosing instead to hand it to Hawke who decided not to give it to Merrill.  A mere shemlan was withholding an important piece to Merrill's elven heritage!  In her anger, Merrill attempted to fix the mirror with her own magic using an ancient spell of change.  

As it turns out...her olde magic needed some practice.

The Eluvian remained the same, but Merrill had taken on a very different point of view.  She had turned into a wrinkly, naked nug.

Her nose twitched constantly, picking up smells she had never noticed before, overwhelming her senses and adding to her confusion.  She needed help to turn back and though Hawke would be the best, there was no way Merrill would go to her in her sorry state.  She would just use this to justify her decision to keep the Arulin'holm.  The Keeper was the next obvious choice, but she was so far in the mountains, there was no way Merrill would survive the journey.  Anders was a no-go.  Isabela wasn't knowledgeable on magic.  Sebastien -- no.  Aveline -- maybe?  Fenris --

_That's it!  Fenris!_

She and Fenris weren't exactly "friends", but he was an elf like her who understood magic, even if he despised it.  There would be some mocking on his part for sure, but he might just pity her enough to help.  The only problem now was reaching his desolate mansion.

* * *

 

After an hour of screeching and running for her life from dogs, birds, and other terrors, Merrill made it to Hightown where Fenris's mansion lay in wait.  It looked as abandoned as ever and only now Merrill realized he might not even be home.

At such a small height, she was able to find nooks and crannies that helped her sneak her way into the mansion until she was in the damp cellar.  From there, she scurried her way through the walls until she was on the main floor; she could hear the crackling of the fire and the sound of bare feet stepping on cold stone flooring.

Fenris was here.

She hurried to the doorway, careful to keep out of sight so as not to startle him.  He was pacing about the room, agitated and cursing in Tevene.  She watched anxiously and when he finally calmed down enough to sit on the broken couch, Merrill stepped forward.  She let out a tiny squeak and when Fenris looked her way she had to fight the instinct to run.

"A nug?  What are you doing here?"

She trembled on the spot, having no idea how Fenris was going to react.  What if he hated nugs?  Hesitantly, she stepped forward and squeaked again.

"What?  Are you hungry?"

Actually, now that food had been mentioned, Merrill was  _starving_.  Her small stomach grumbled terribly and she suddenly felt very weak from all her running.  

"So be it."  Fenris sighed.  He got up from the couch and headed to the table behind him where various slices of bread and fruit lay.  When he returned, he was much closer to Merrill, crouching down about a foot from her and gently tossing her a piece of bread.  Her small paws snatched the piece, bringing it to her mouth so she could hurriedly chew it down.

"Poor thing.  I can't imagine many people in this city are kind to you."

His hand reached forward slowly until he could drag the back of his fingers along her naked head and down her back.  Merrill felt soothed from the touch like she had been craving it more than the piece of food in her hands.

When she finished her piece, Fenris tore off another and offered it to her.  As much as Merrill wanted another, her hunger was sated and she needed to focus on her original purpose.  She pushed the food away with her paws and inched closer to Fenris, squeaking madly and waving her paws about in the air.

"Huh?  I've never seen an animal act like this.  What's the matter?"

Fenris took a step back and Merrill became desperate.  She chased after him, standing up on her hind legs as much as she could and waving her short arms while squeaking even more.

_Help me!  I'm an elf!  I'm not an animal!  Please, Fenris!_

"What an odd creature.  I have nothing more to offer you except a warm place to sleep."

He turned his back on her and headed for the couch again; she was losing him.  Her thoughts were racing for ideas.  How could she possibly tell him?  There was no writing material around, not even dust that she could write her name in.  

_Think, Merrill, think!  Oh!_

She lunged forward as fast as her feet could take her and before Fenris sat down, she pawed at his barefoot and he halted.  She lightly dragged her claws along the top of his foot, doing her best to soothe him, and even tried adding pressure to mimic a massage, though she doubted her limited muscle mass would make a difference.  Fenris stared down her, perplexed by what she was doing.

"Are you...rubbing my feet?  But that's..."

Suddenly, his face went lax, his eyes going wide as the realization came upon him.

"Merrill?!"

At the sound of her name, Merrill squeaked happily and ran in a tight circle to show her excitement.  

Since elves didn't wear shoes, their feet would often get slivers or blisters, not to mention aching muscles and generally just dirty.  A family member, friend, or lover would show affection by grooming someone's feet, whether it was washing them or massaging.  It was something only elves did with other elves, so Merrill knew Fenris would understand.

"But you're a -- you were fooling around with blood magic, weren't you?!"

Merrill recoiled.  She tried waving her paws back-and-forth to deny his claims.

"You know you deserve this, right?  Mages are always playing around with magic like it's a toy!  Well, now you get to face the consequences of your actions!"

He laughed at her expense, ignoring the way she had quieted down, immobile except for her twitching whiskers.  

"And I'm guessing you came all this way because you were expecting me to help you?  Well, forget it!"

He walked away from her, grabbing his open bottle of wine from the same table the food lay on.  He chugged back a swig of it, wiping the drip that escaped down his strong chin.  When he returned, he sat on the couch, bottle in hand, and brought his feet up to curl under him so Merrill could not reach them.  Frustrated, Merrill jumped at the couch, catching the edge with her claws and scrambling up the side.  She came to rest next to Fenris and, without any other way to connect with him, rested her forehead against his thigh.

"Don't bother.  I'm not helping."

He shook her off, but Merrill was persistent.  She inched closer this time, resting her chin on his leg and snuggling against him.  Her small red eyes looked up at him, her nose still twitching, and for just a moment he looked down at her to meet her gaze.

Annoyed, he clicked his tongue.

" _Kaffas_ , alright!  I can't stand seeing you like this and I know you're just going to bother me until I help!"

Merrill's ears perked up.

"I don't really know what spell there is to undo what you've done, but the Keeper should know.  In the morning, I'll take you to her and she can fix everything."

Merrill sighed; if he wasn't willing to go now, there was no way she could convince him.  She would be stuck in this tiny nug body until morning.  As quiet settled down upon them, the warmth of sleep crept up her body until her eyelids were drooping.  She had accomplished her goal tonight and she was safe with Fenris, surely she could curl up and sleep.

* * *

 

"Hey, Merrill.  Wake up."

Merrill's heart started at a race and she woke suddenly to see Fenris reaching for her from his side on the couch.  His eyes were half-lidded and her sensitive nose could pick up the smell of alcohol on his breath.

"I just thought of something that could help.  It's a bit unconventional, though."

Realizing she was safe, her heartbeat settled.  She felt completely rested, though she had no clue what time it was.

"I was thinking of your...situation."  He waved in her general direction.  "And it reminded me of a story one of the other slaves told me when I was young.  You might have heard it, or the Dalish equivalent, anyway."

Merrill inched closer.  Could it have been a tale of olde?  Or perhaps a spell the slave knew that she passed on to Fenris for future use?  She was so curious, she pressed her paws on his thigh so he could continue.

"Okay, okay.  It was a story about...a girl?  I only heard it a couple times so the details are foggy.  This girl is sad for some reason and goes out into the woods.  She's lonely and comes upon a frog.  I think the frog is special in some way because she feels like talking to it.  Anyway, she decides to kiss the frog and POOF, the frog turns into a man!  A prince, in fact!  You see where I'm going with this?!"

_A frog?  The Princess and The Frog?  I heard a woman in the alienage reading it to the children last week.  He can't mean..._

"What if -- what if you just need someone to kiss you?"

_Gods, he really is drunk!_

Merrill shook her head and stepped off Fenris, but he was persistent in his loosened state.

"No, no, don't be like that!  We might not even need to go see the Keeper!  She doesn't need to know your mistake, no one will have to know.  Don't you think she's just going to lecture you when you go see her?"

He was right; sure the Keeper would help her, but not without telling her what a fool she was and just like Hawke, she would justify her decision to not give her the Arulin'holm.  Merrill was already a child in her eyes and she really didn't want to give her another reason to doubt her abilities.

"So?  Shall we try it?"

His hand smoothed over her wrinkled back.  A tingle ran up her spine from the addictive feeling and she relaxed under his hand.  

"Although...you are rather cute like this.  I think I prefer you as a nug."

_Bastard!_

She whipped her head around and nipped at his hand, not nearly hard enough to break the skin, but enough that it hurt.  Fenris retracted his hand and Merrill expected him to curse at her, but instead...he was smiling.  And laughing.

"Alright, I deserved that."

His teeth were a dull white, stained from his favourite past-time of drinking wine, and even the inside of his lips was stained a deep purple and for a second, Merrill wondered what they tasted like.

"But seriously, are you up for it?"

For the first time tonight, Merrill was thankful for her current position because if she were elven she would be blushing like mad.  Then again, if she were elven she wouldn't even be here.

She hesitantly stepped forward into his lap and sat patiently.  His hands came forward and gently picked her up by her torso until they were eye-level with each other.

"If this doesn't work, we'll go see the Keeper in the morning.  I promise."

Merrill nodded, then waited.  Fenris was suddenly much more serious now that the moment had presented itself to him.  What would happen if he changed his mind?  They would both be spared the humiliation of sharing a kiss out of near necessity and go see the Keeper.  If the kiss it didn't work?  They would laugh about it later, like a terrible inside joke that might be the beginnings of an actual friendship.

But then...what if it did work?  In the story, the man turned into a prince because he received a kiss from his true love.  

_If he kisses me and I turn back, does that mean..?_

"On three.  One, two, three!"

He dove forward while bringing Merrill closer to him.  She closed her eyes out of fear - she didn't want to know if it worked or not, she just wanted to remember this rare moment shared between them and the feel of his lips on the tip of her snout.

After what felt like forever, Merrill exhaled a shaky breath and with it, she heard her voice faintly at the end of it.  She opened her eyes and sure enough, Fenris was looking back at her as wide-eyed as ever.  She had never seen his eyes so closely before; they were a pale forest green with the slightest tint of light behind them, most likely from the lyrium that flowed through his body.  Not only that, but his eyebrows were so sharp they magnified the intensity of his eyes, causing an unknown awe to come over Merrill as she stared into them.  She was so overwhelmed by the beauty hidden in his eyes, she failed to notice just how much he was in awe of her.

After a moment, Fenris cleared his throat.  "Uh, Merrill?"

"F-Fenris.  Am I elven again?"

His eyes darted down, then quickly back up as his cheeks burned bright red.

"Uh, yes you're back to your regular form.  Y-you might want to..."

Concerned, she looked down.  She was straddling his lap, which was already embarrassing enough, but to make matters worse she was completely _naked._

"Oh, Gods!  I-I'm sorry!"

Fenris clapped a hand over his eyes as Merrill scrambled out of his lap, tripping over the bottle of wine that lay at his feet and stumbling over her own two feet as if she had never walked before.  Looking around, she caught sight of a ratty blanket lying on the ground.  Ignoring how potentially filthy it was, she hurriedly snatched it from the ground and wrapped it around her bare body like a cloak.

"I'm so sorry, Fenris.  I had no idea I would -- well, I didn't even know that would work, to be honest, but if I had I swear I didn't know I would be n--naked after!"

"It's fine, Merrill, I should be the one who is sorry."

Fenris remained on the couch with one palm over his eyes and he sighed heavily.

"You?  But why?  If it weren't for you, I'd still be a nug!"

"I'm....sorry for looking."

"Looking?  At what?"

She truly didn't understand.

"Agh, for looking at your body!"

"Oh."  

If things weren't awkward before, they definitely were now.  Here she was, wrapped in some disgusting blanket, standing in Fenris's living room in the middle of the night discussing how he had purposely looked at her naked body.

_Oh.  Oh, my.  He...he wanted to see?_

Merrill felt high from the realization and she rode that high to the point of stepping towards the couch and taking a seat next to the blushing elf warrior.

"Fenris...you are forgiven.  I don't mind, you know."

Fenris peeked at her through his fingers.

"Besides, I think it says a lot that you were able to undo my spell by kissing me, don't you think?"

She noticed his sharp inhale; perhaps the thought had occurred to him, too?  However, as time passed, he chose to stay silent and though tonight had brought on many new experiences for Merrill, she decided she was happy basking in the silence with him.

She curled her pale legs under her body and wrapped herself in the thick blanket to protect her from the cold that gripped the stone mansion.  Her head rested gently on the back of the couch and she watched the flames flicker, letting her hand escape from the covers to rest on the cushion beside her.

She didn't expect a reaction from Fenris, but when she felt his hand gently lay upon hers, a faint smile pulled at her lips.

Perhaps losing the Arulin'holm wasn't so awful after all.


End file.
